'Upfitting' market heats up

"Upfitting," as distinguished from retrofitting, involves upgrading vehicles with new capabilities. A key market sector is law enforcement, where local, state and federal agencies are seeking to add greater capabilities such as mobile data and video.

One company, Brekford Corp. (Hanover, Md.), said Monday (Nov. 30) it has received a federal contract to "upfit" police vehicles with mobile data and video services along with radio communications equipment. Customers include the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police and U.S. military police.

The upfits are part of the expanding federal homeland security push.

Brekford said the two-year contract is worth up to $3 million, and that the deal highlights the trend towards deploying more "smart" police vehicles.